


Red Sky at Morning

by Aishuu



Series: The Reluctant Hokage [12]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Akatsuki - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, The Livejournal exodus, Villains, gritty ninja world, ninja playing politics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-05
Updated: 2014-11-05
Packaged: 2018-02-24 05:52:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2570510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aishuu/pseuds/Aishuu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kisame deals with his idiot partner, Deidara, who wants to take out the Hokage, Itachi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red Sky at Morning

Kisame knows more about politics in the five nations than anyone who isn't a Kage. His information network isn't a formal one, but he knows through painful experience that there is nothing more valuable than knowing what is going on. Kisame will tell this to anyone who dares ask him why he spends to much time at bars as they travel, but it's not the entire truth.  
  
Really, Kisame enjoys being the receptacle of gossip. Kisame doesn't tell anyone what he knows (with the exception of what he _has_ to in order to further Akatsuki's goals), but knowing is enough for him. He likes being on the inside, enjoying the strangely titillating feeling of knowing more than the guy next to him.   
  
Not that the guy next to him knows much.  
  
They sit at the edges of the bar in one of those god forsaken countries which is too small to bother remembering its name. His companion is sulking as he glares at the rest of the patrons. Kisame can't help but think he's being cute, in a bratty sort of child way.  
  
Deidara's barely fifteen, and he's built along the willowy lines of the Waza clan of Iwa. Beside him, Kisame feels like an awkward old man, although Kisame is definitely the stronger of the pair. They've been partnered for less than six months, ever since Leader ordered him to recruit the brat. Kisame had been dubious at first, but now realizes that Deidara's skill is more than worth the effort. No one else Kisame knows is capable of such casual mass destruction.  
  
He's also one of the most accomplished whiners Kisame has ever met. Right now he's about to enter his third hour of complaining about their assignment.  
  
"I don't see why we have to go to Iwa. It's almost winter, and I always swore I would never spend another winter in Iwa," Deidara complains for the umpteenth time. "I'd rather go somewhere warm, like Konaha or Suna... are you _sure_ we can't just trade Orochimaru for the Nine Tails? Or maybe we can accompany Sasori to Suna?"  
  
Kisame shrugs, not wanting to encourage Deidara, but not caring enough to shut the brat up. "The Five Tails is the first, and it's in Iwa, so we're going to Iwa since you know the county," he says, as he'd said numerous times before and will continue to say calmly since Deidara really wants to make him angry. It's cute, in the same way a puppy chewing on your shoes is cute. Like a puppy, Deidara simply doesn't know any better, and Kisame takes his amusement where he can. There's nothing more fun than irritating someone by refusing to let yourself get irritated.  
  
"I don't see why we don't start with either the One Tails or Nine Tails," Deidara replies. It's a slightly new spin on the old argument, and Kisame quirks his lips, wondering what new angle Deidara's come up with. Deidara's creative when he's trying to get his own way. "It makes more sense to do them in order. Either start with the strongest and take it out so the others are easier to reel in, or work your way up and gradually gain strength."  
  
"You're forgetting that the hosts have personalities of their own," Kisame says, allowing himself to smirk. "One Tails is insane by all reports and totally out of control, and Nine Tails is under the guard of the Godaime Hokage. Five Tails is a loner, so he's easier to take out. We don't want to alert the world to what we're doing before its time."  
  
"I could take the Hokage," Deidara grumbles.   
  
Now Kisame does allow himself to laugh, knowing it's going to annoy Deidara. "You may be a genius, kid, but there's genius and there's _genius._ No one sane takes on an Uchiha, and rumor has it that Godaime is the most powerful Uchiha ever."  
  
Deidara starts to rant about how Kisame shouldn't underestimate him, but Kisame turns his focus inward as he considers why starting in Konoha would be such a bad idea. On the surface, Deidara's idea of taking out the Nine Tails first is sound strategy, but Deidara doesn't have all the facts. Neither does Kisame, but he's sure as hell a lot closer to the full picture.  
  
Kisame's curious about what's going on in Konoha, since Konoha holds the ultimate key to the mission. Even though he had only been a child, he remembers with vivid clarity the damage that sealing the Six Tails into Utakata had wrought on Kiri. According to legend, each beast is exponentially more powerful than the last, so the power of the Nine Tails is impossible for him to imagine.   
  
As is the power of the man who will be first in line to protect him.  
  
The rumor mill has been rife with speculations about Konoha's young Godaime, but as an experienced gossip monger, Kisame is skilled at gauging the truth from the impossibilities. The former Uchiha heir's been in the Bingo Book since he was ten, so it's not like he's entirely unknown to the wider shinobi society. It's just surprising that Sarutobi would trust the village to the Senju clan's hereditary enemies.   
  
He'd half been expecting news of an overthrow to follow quickly after word of the inauguration, but the Godaime has been in power for almost a year, so he's likely to last for a while. Konoha's a weird place that Kisame doesn't really understand.  
  
It may be best that Orochimaru is the one assigned to eventually bring in the Nine Tails, since only someone from Konoha can know the village well enough to plan a successful attack. Still, Kisame has his doubts if the Sannin will pull through on his promises. Orochimaru may have a fabulous reputation as a shinobi with a nearly unlimited array of jutsu, but the few times that they've met have been enough for Kisame to discover a somewhat surprising truth.  
  
Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin, is a coward. Orochimaru's skill comes from his sheer terror of death, and Kisame knows this is a limitation. Orochimaru will never lay his life on the line. He was also overlooked repeatedly when Sarutobi was looking for a successor, so the Itachi has to be more powerful than the Sannin.  
  
He would bet Orochimaru knows that, too. Which is why he doubts Orochimaru will ever seriously try to capture the Nine Tails.  
  
Kisame hopes that when Orochimaru fails, he'll be the one asked to pick up the slack. The only thing Kisame loves more than gossip is fighting, and he'd like to take on the Nine Tails. If he has to take the Hokage out while he's at it, all the better. It's been much too long since he's had an opponent who really challenged him.  
  
He looks at Deidara, trying not to roll his eyes as Deidara starts to make plans about making a grand explosion to take out the Hokage as his magnum opus. "You gotta take me out first, brat," he tells Deidara, cutting him off before Deidara can try to explain "art" to him. "And you haven't had much luck so far."  
  
Deidara glares. It's a really good glare, but Kisame isn't bothered. Deidara's been trying to blow him up daily ever since Kisame forced him into Akatsuki. Deidara only follows him hoping to find an opportunity to take Kisame out. Even though he's failed one hundred sixty three times so far, Kisame doesn't expect the attempts on his life to cease. Deidara possesses the characteristic stubbornness of Iwa, as unmovable as the stones the nation takes its name from.  
  
"Philistine."  
  
"Sure, if it makes you happy," Kisame replies easily, pretending he doesn't know what the word means. It would shock Deidara to realize Kisame knows a heck of a lot more than he lets on. Kisame sees no reason to enlighten him otherwise.  
  
There is much he won't tell Deidara. Even though Deidara is his partner, Kisame doesn't trust him. He doesn't trust anyone in Akatsuki, but that's par for the course. Kisame doesn't trust anyone, period.


End file.
